April 23, 2022
Sixers center Joel Embiid is available for Saturday's Game 4 against the Toronto Raptors, but his thumb injury is a problem that appears to be looming over their long-term chances in these playoffs. With testing left to be done, head coach Doc Rivers didn't try to sugarcoat the injury to reporters.
"I’m not sure," Rivers said when asked if there's a ligament tear in the thumb, "but we feel like it’s not a great injury. I’m just going to leave it at that."
Embiid, who banged his thumb in the first half of Wednesday's game against the Raptors, was ultimately able to play through the issue in the second half of Game 3, scoring 28 points after halftime, including the game-winning three in overtime. For the time being, the Sixers have said that Embiid is expected to be able to play using medical tape on the impacted area, alongside continued management of the issue under the direction of Philadelphia's medical staff.
To this point, Embiid has not undergone the proper scans to drill down and precisely diagnose the injury, with further testing needed to confirm their suspicions on the injury.
"I guess we’re going to do the MRI, I think we already know what it is, to be honest," Rivers said Saturday afternoon. "But we just have to make sure. There’s no really additional treatment to that though."
At a practice in Scotiabank Arena on Friday afternoon, Embiid said the area was "sore but okay" in a brief discussion with PhillyVoice, reiterating his public comments from earlier this week that he would suit up for Game 4.
The one dubious claim made by Rivers during his presser on Saturday was the affirmation that playing through the problem couldn't have any negative consequences.
"The one thing we know," Rivers said, "it can't get worse."
Until Embiid receives an MRI to formally diagnose the problem, that claim is an educated guess, rather than a hard fact. Embiid was evaluated and underwent fairly extensive treatment in the hours immediately after their dramatic Game 3 win, but a complete assessment is still on the horizon.
It's not the first time this season Embiid has had a bit of equipment in the impacted area. After a February win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, Embiid's shooting wrist was heavily wrapped up during his postgame media, and he had the wrist taped up for the following game against Cleveland that featured an Embiid poster dunk on Jarrett Allen and a 40-point triple-double for the big man.
On Friday, Rivers and his players all emphasized the importance of seeing the Raptors series through before worrying about anything else, noting that they are not out of the first round until they win Game 4. But beyond the other obvious benefits of getting some time off between rounds, buying Embiid and the team time to get a complete picture will be critical, allowing the franchise and the big man to develop a plan to manage the issue.
"Guys have ailments, we're going to need to rest, we're going to need to focus to get some guys back in rhythm, get legs under us," Danny Green said at practice Friday. "It's a chance to focus on the next opponent. We got to get there first though. The job is not done."
"It's the hardest game of the series, the next one is a closeout game, the hardest one to win. The sooner we can get this series over, the longer we each have to rest. We got to come in locked in, focused...we can't take them lightly, we got to get this done so we can take care of our bodies."
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